an's opinion was, that the chief cause of
scarcity of women has been the custom of female infanticide--of killing
little girls as bouches inutiles. Sir Henry Maine admits that 'the cause
assigned by M'Lennan is a vera causa--it is capable of producing the
effects.' {249} Mr. M'Lennan collected a very large mass of testimony to
prove the wide existence of this cause of paucity of women. Till that
evidence is published, I can only say that it was sufficient, in Mr.
M'Lennan's opinion, to demonstrate the wide prevalence of the factor
which is the mainspring of his whole system. {250a} How frightfully
female infanticide has prevailed in India, everyone may read in the
official reports of Col. M'Pherson, and other English authorities. Mr.
Fison's 'Kamilaroi and Kurnai' contains some notable, though not to my
mind convincing, arguments on the other side. Sir Henry Maine adduces
another cause of paucity of women: the wanderings of our race, and
expeditions across sea. {250b} This cause would not, however, be
important enough to alter forms of kinship, where the invaders (like the
early English in Britain) found a population which they could conquer and
whose women they could appropriate.

Apart from any probable inferences that may be drawn from the presumed
practice of female infanticide, actual ascertained facts prove that many
races do not now live, or that recently they did not live, in the
patriarchal or modern family. They live, or did live, in polyandrous
associations. The Thibetans, the Nairs, the early inhabitants of Britain
(according to Caesar), and many other races, {251} as well as the
inhabitants of the Marquesas Islands, and the Iroquois (according to
Lafitau), practise, or have practised, polyandry.

We now approach the third and really important problem--(3.) Is there
any reason to suppose that the stronger peoples, like the Aryans and the
Semites, ever passed through a stage of culture in which female, not
male, kinship was chiefly recognised, probably as a result of polyandry?

Now the nature of the evidence which affords a presumption that Aryans
have all passed through Australian institutions such as polyandry, is of
extremely varied character. Much of it may undoubtedly be explained
away. But such strength as the evidence has (which we do not wish to
exaggerate) is derived from its convergence to one point--namely, the
anterior existence of polyandry and the matriarchal family among Aryans
b